Peace
by Penelope Lane Jr
Summary: A short story about Katniss teaching her daughter to hunt but, then ending up telling her about the Hunger Games and becoming more at peace with herself.


_Hey you guys! So this is my take of Katniss as an adult, teaching her daughter how to hunt in the woods of District 12. So basically, in my story, Katniss and Peeta had moved back to the rebuilt version of District 12 into Katniss' original townhouse that she won from the first Hunger Games, but without any cameras or microphones ;). Also the little house in the woods that Katniss ran to to hide in District 12 forest wasn't destroyed._

Katniss watched as the small black haired head of her daughter bobbed while she jumped over logs in her path. The misty surrounding of the woods clouded her body so that she seemed to be a dark smudge in the blanket of whiteness around her. Leaves crunched as her new leather boots stumped through them. The crunching sounds echoed through the forest, a few birds flew away in the distance towards sky. "Not so LOUD, Rose! You'll scare the entire forest away," Katniss hissed. "Sorry mom, these boots are just so heavy!" Rose thumped her left foot in anguish into the ground. "Shhh!" Her mother hissed. They continued walking, passing by trees and bushes that seemed to get darker and darker. "We're lost..." Rose commented after passing an almost black looking bush. "We are not lost," Her mother replied matter of factly. Rose looked around confused, "Yea we are mom, I can't see the district at all. I bet dad and Finnick had already ordered a search party for us..." Rose drowned on and on, lost in thought and absorbed with the image of her large townhouse back in the upper section of District 12. Her eyes had finally met contact with something she deemed interesting enough, "Mom look! It's a little house! We can stay in it for the night!" Rose rushed over to a falling apart, small brick home. Katniss looked at the old building in shock, then fake composure as she followed her hungry daughter into the home that had once harbored her from danger during the years of the Games...

Katniss had lighted a fire in the same pit she had 20 years ago. Rose gathered near her and stared in wonder as flames flickered around the rock guarded enclosement of a fire pit. Katniss glanced outside through the house's doorless doorframe. It was at least 10 O'Clock, and would be too dark to continue to trudge home. They would spend the night.

What an idiot Katniss felt like. Getting lost in the forest she had considered home her full childhood, or whatever she had of one. Speaking honestly, she hadn't entered District 12's forest in a good decade for multiple reasons. Not needing to with food in the kitchen, being too busy with political matters to be free to hunt, and being afraid of haunting ghosts and memories that dwell in the forest for her. Of course Rose had insisted she be taught to hunt 'properly' for her 13th birthday. The finely carved bow and boots weren't enough for her. Katniss sighed as she recalled running through this very forest from enemies that would forever be entombed in her mind. Perhaps it was time to explain everything to Rose? Why she didn't have an aunt from mommy's side, or why her parents are as important as they are? Last week she had found the Mockingjay pin Katniss had so deeply hidden from herself in a drawer. Perhaps this was meant to be and Katniss owed her so much. But was she ready?

Katniss turned to confront her daughter's Merchant blue eyes, as beautiful as Peeta's. The house made her scared and uncomfortable, she couldn't wait till morning to be able to escape the home. "Is there something wrong with this house, mom?" Rose seemed genuinely concerned about her mother. Thus began the enthralling explanation of the Hunger Games Katniss had planned out many times with her husband. She was cautious at the beginning of her tale, trying to avoid certain details and only giving her daughter the general idea, but soon every intricate detail poured out of her, glad to be free from where it had been locked for the past years. By the end of her story, Katniss finally turned away from her vivid memories and turned to look at her daughter who was fast asleep against the back wall of the cabin. Nervous but relieved about what she had told her, Katniss curled up next to her daughter and fell right asleep. But just before so, Katniss took one more look around the scarred house and noticed a trait that hadn't been there before, peace. Peace was finally coming to this half-broken brick domain as ivy leaves had begun to swallow it up.


End file.
